The advocacy group Gun Owners of America has responded to the mass shooting in Connecticut in their own fashion – by saying that gun control supporters ‘have the blood of little children on their hands.’The organization’s executive director, Larry Pratt, said in a statement immediately following the horrific December 14 shootings in Newtown, that ‘blood is on the hands of members of Congress and the Connecticut legislators who voted to ban guns from all schools in Connecticut.’

The pro-gun lobbyist said today on MSNBC’s ‘Hardball’ claimed that if the teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary had guns, the whole tragedy could be prevented.

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Outspoken: Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt, pictured in April, said gun control advocates have blood on their hands

Extreme opinion: He said in a statement immediately following the shootings that Congress has blood on their hands

Pratt wrote in his first statement: ‘The only thing accomplished by gun free zones is to insure that mass murderers can slay more before they are finally confronted by someone with a gun.’

And speaking today on ‘Hardball with Chris Matthews,’ Pratt said: ‘Nothing is 100 percent, but if teachers, janitors, and principals were able to defend themselves with guns,’ the children of Newtown ‘might have had a chance.’

He stated: ‘It would serve you better than sitting like fish in a barrel.’

Also in his ‘Hardball’ interview, Pratt stated that it was necessary to be ‘prepared’ and ‘control the government.’

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However, David Chipman, a former special agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms said on MSNBC that Pratt’s argument crumbled at first blush.

‘Law enforcement is here as a force of good and we’re the good guys,’ he said.

The National Rifle Association (NRA), the largest pro-gun advocacy group in the nation, however, has remained conspicuously quiet.

Following the shooting, the NRA deactivated its Facebook page, then issuing a very minimal page where commenting is disabled.

Driving point home: Speaking today on 'Hardball,' Pratt said that the shooting might have been prevented if the teachers had guns

Meanwhile, Democratic gun-rights advocates on Monday joined the growing number of lawmakers in their party who have started to call for limits on assault weapons, a sign that the Connecticut school massacre could be the 'tipping point' to revive the gun control debate in Washington.

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Virginia Senator Mark Warner, both Democrats who have earned top marks from the powerful National Rifle Association, said they would now be open to more regulation of military-style rifles like the one used to kill 20 young children and six adults on Friday.

And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she would support legislation banning assault weapons after previously throwing cold water on the idea.

'The voices of reason cannot be silent,' she said on the House floor late on Monday.

''Through administrative and legislative action, we must limit the proliferation of weapons and ammunition that have no other purpose than to kill citizens.'

U.S. lawmakers have not approved a major new federal gun law since 1994, and a ban on certain semi-automatic rifles known as assault weapons expired in 2004.

Demanding change: Obama, speaking at a vigil last night in Newtown, said that there must be harsher gun control laws enforced

Memorial: Candles are lit among mementos at a memorial for victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, on December 17, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut

Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who authored the previous ban, pledged to introduce legislation early next year to ban the weapons.

Gunman Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including his mother, before killing himself

Previous attempts at toughening U.S. gun laws have failed amid opposition from the NRA and other gun-lobby groups - even after mass shootings across the country.

But the shift by moderate Democrats showed that the weapons lobby could face a tougher fight this time to ward off calls for more regulation.

However, with Congress and President Obama busy trying to resolve the 'fiscal cliff' of tax and spending deadlines, even liberal Democrats acknowledge that any review of gun laws would not take place until 2013.

A hunter and member of the National Rifle Association, Manchin said the availability of such high-powered weapons does not make sense, and that he knew of no hunter who went out with assault rifles or clips with 30 rounds of ammunition.

'This awful massacre of our youngest children has changed us, and everything should be on the table,' said Manchin, who once ran a campaign ad in which he shot environmental legislation with a rifle.

Solemn: People light candles at a makeshift memorial in Newtown, Connecticut Monday night

'There's got to be a way to put reasonable restrictions, particularly as we look at assault weapons, as we look at these fast clips of ammunition,' Warner, whose state is home to the NRA, told The Washington Post.

John Yarmuth, a Democratic U.S. representative from Kentucky, also shifted position. 'I have been largely silent on the issue of gun violence over the past six years, and I am now as sorry for that as I am for what happened to the families who lost so much in this most recent, but sadly not isolated, tragedy,' he said in a statement.

REPUBLICANS, NRA SILENT

There has been little word on assault weapons from Republicans, who are traditionally strong gun rights advocates, even in the wake of the Newtown deaths.

Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, offered words of comfort, but did not mention weapons when he spoke on Monday in the Senate chamber, where a parade of Democratic senators called for greater gun control.

Representatives for the National Rifle Association did not respond to a request for comment. The lobby group has no statement on the school shooting on its website. It has not posted any comments on social media since Friday.

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Obama called on Sunday for the country to change its approach to violence, although he did not use the word 'gun.' The White House said on Monday gun control is part but not the entire answer to address the violence in the United States.

But the tide of national emotion over the deaths of so many children could make a difference this time.

'One of great strengths of the NRA has been its bipartisanship,' said Jeremy Mayer, a political scientist at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. 'Now it's almost all Republicans and it will be harder for the NRA to deal with a bunch of united and angry Democrats.'

Police said 20-year-old Adam Lanza was armed with hundreds of bullets in high-capacity magazines of about 30 rounds each for the Bushmaster AR 15 rifle with which he mowed down the children and staff. He also carried two handguns and had a shotgun in a car.